KARACHI, Nov 30: Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi on Tuesday underlined the need for integrated power generation among Saarc member countries for producing cheaper electricity.

He was speaking at the inauguration of conference on "Economic Governance in Saarc", organized by Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in cooperation with USAID at FPCCI.

He said that integrated power generation would help not only in producing cheaper electricity but also enable power-deficit members of South Asian block get electricity from surplus producers.

The minister said that he had also raised this issue during the recent visit to Saarc member countries along with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. He urged the participants of the conference to deliberate upon this issue and come up with recommendations in this regard.

Referring to the absence of "currency exchange facility" within Saarc region, Mr Jatoi also called for promoting such facility to boost tourism, trade and other activities. He said that European Union has a common currency, but Saarc members do not have a currency list for facilitating exchange.

The minister emphasized upon effective implementation of decisions already agreed under Saarc Charter to promote trade, cooperation, technology transfer, exchange of delegation to make South Asia a prosperous region.

He suggested a proactive role of Saarc secretariat for implementation of decisions of cooperation in member countries. He was of the opinion that prosperity and development in the Saarc region could only be achieved if respective governments bring in transparency, good governance, eliminate corruption and address poverty. -APP